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Using Computer Forensics to Investigate Employee Data Theft

By Timothy M. Opsitnick, Joseph M. Anguilano and Trevor B. Tucker

Over 25% of employees steal proprietary data when departing a company or organization. See, “Employee Departure Creates Gaping Security Hole, Says New Data,” Biscom. To that end, our experience shows that departing employees have a sense of ownership over the data that they copy. Intellectual property commonly stolen includes customer lists, secret formulas, source code, strategy documents and other trade secrets. The information is often used against the organization when the former employee goes to work for a competitor or decides to start a new company.

When suspicions of employee data theft arise, it is important to engage a computer forensics expert to perform a theft-of-IP analysis in order to preserve electronic data and uncover important evidence. Using specialized software, the expert can reveal digital footprints such as:

  • USB activity;
  • Files recently opened;
  • Cloud storage usage;
  • Files sent to personal email accounts; and
  • Recently printed documents.

The results of the analysis can provide the foundation for legal action such as a temporary restraining order, permanent injunction, subpoena of personal devices, or other litigation to prevent the misappropriation of company data.

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